Aspen edges Whistler in fight for Winter X, but only for two years

Sarka Pancochova grabs air during the women's snowboarding slopestyle final at Winter X Games 2012 at Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen on Friday, January 27

It looks as though Aspen just eked past Whistler in its fight to keep the Winter X Games at Buttermilk. But only for two more years and Whistler isn’t about to surrender.

“ESPN has shared with us that they also believe Whistler would be a great fit, and we would certainly be open to discussing future opportunities with ESPN if the occasion were to arise,” said Dave Brownlie, president and chief operating officer at Whistler Blackcomb in a statement released early Tuesday as ESPN announced the deal to keep Winter X at Aspen Skiing Co.’s Buttermilk ski area through 2014.

That occasion should arise as soon as next year, when ESPN again begins mulling a move for Winter X, which has been in Aspen for 11 years.

As ESPN’s influential X Games franchise transitions from a sports event to a global lifestyle event anchored by action sports, Aspen is fighting to remain the key X Games player it has been for the last decade. Despite the fact that Aspen Skiing pretty much hands ESPN the keys to an entire ski area during peak months, the X brand is evolving and Aspen has to do more than simply be convenient.

“We always talk about what’s the right length for an X Games event to stay somewhere and what would it take to keep it somewhere for 10-to-15 years,” said Scott Guglielmino, ESPN’s senior vice president of programming and X Games. “It’s an ongoing conversation with our partners.”

Has the X Games outgrown Buttermilk, where ESPN commandeers a base area hotel and peak crowds continue to swell beyond 100,000 a day?

“In certain ways, from a footprint perspective, perhaps,” Guglielmino said. “But with winter, there are more challenges than just sheer space. I would not say we’ve outgrown Aspen-Snowmass.”
Cutting a mere two-year deal gives both Aspen and ESPN “time to assess,”
Guglielmino said.

“It gives us more runway to make sure that Aspen becomes a part of this transformation and also gives Aspen enough time to feel it out and go from there,” said Guglielmino, noting that Whistler offered “a tremendous bid from a world class operation.” “I think that certainly we have designed this so events can move around and we can change where are in terms of cities and countries. The key thing is the flexibility to share the X Games experience in key markets around the world.”

David joined The Denver Post in 1999, his second go-round in the Mile High City. Since then he’s covered a variety of topics – from human services to consumer affairs – most always with an investigative bent. Currently he does investigations and banking.